This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art, which can be related to various aspects of the present invention that are described or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present invention. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
Graphical representations, such as spreadsheets, are widely used by analysts in many different industries to report and analyze large amounts of categorical information. To understand the information presented on a traditional electronic spreadsheet, a user has to scroll through many pages of textual tables. This can be a tedious and difficult task that can become even more difficult as the amount of information stored in the spreadsheet increases.
One traditional method for easing this problem is with simple graphical charts. Simple charts, however, have numerous disadvantages that can hinder the efficient display of large amounts of information. Simple charts typically provide a single solid color bar or line. Simple charts also lack the resolution needed to allow the requisite level of analysis of large amounts of data. Lastly, it is difficult to quickly find correlations, differences, or patterns among data in simple charts.